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His brief flirtation with the Crash label was ended by having the opportunity to record
for another independent label, but one with a much larger footprint in the blues world
- Delmark Records. The 2 albums he recorded, “West Side Soul” (1968) and “Black Magic”

(1969) were both classics, containing some of Sam’s finest singing and playing. Both
albums were inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, as a “classic of blues recording”, in

1984 and 1990 respectively. As well as regular band members Odie Payne (drums), Mighty
Joe Young (guitar) and Mack Thompson (bass) “West Side Soul” also refers to one
‘Stockholm Slim’ on piano, which I assumed was a pseudonym for Memphis Slim, but

who is actually a Swedish player called Per ‘Slim’ Notini.

Recording for Delmark gave Sam an introduction to a much wider white audience, and

opened the door to
opportunities to play

abroad, as well as touring
more widely in the US, but
he was beginning to have

some health problems. In
1969, on tour as the opening

act for Charlie Musselwhite,
he collapsed, in Louisville,
Kentucky, and had to be

hospitalised in Chicago. At
first it was thought that he
had bronchitis, but tests

proved it had been a heart
attack.

August 1969 saw Sam
playing at the prestigious 3

day Ann Arbor Blues
Festival, in Michigan. The
idea of the festival was to try

to bring the laid back jam
atmosphere of a small

Chicago blues club to a
much larger audience, and
included many of the greats,

such as Muddy Waters, B. B.
King, Howlin’ Wolf, Freddy

King, Otis Rush, Fred
McDowell, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sleepy John Estes and others too numerous to mention.
My mouth is watering just thinking about it! In spite of moderate applause from the

10,000 audience when the band took the stage, Sam absolutely tore the place up, at the